The five most important retail tech news stories of the week
It’s Friday, the week is nearly done, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful week for the retail technology space. Here's your briefing on the most important and interesting stories from the past five days.
1. Local retailers benefit from Eat Out to Help Out scheme
22 million people, representing 40.6% of UK consumers, have used or planned to use the government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme, according to research by GlobalData.
2. The Hut Group plots London Stock Exchange float
The co-founder of online retailer and technology venture The Hut Group is in line for a £700 million share windfall.
According to a report by Sky News, Matthew Moulding could land one of the biggest payouts in British corporate history from an incentive scheme, disclosed this week, alongside plans for a £4.5 billion London Stock Exchange flotation.
The company has pencilled in 16th September for its shares to begin trading, city sources said.
3. Alibaba Group freezes investment in Indian startups
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has put on hold plans to invest in Indian startups amid souring business relations and rising political tension, Reuters reports.
Citing two sources, the article states that Alibaba, which has put more than $2 billion in to Indian startups since 2015, plans to freeze new investments for at least six months, although it does not intend to reduce its stakes in existing portfolio firms.
4. Amazon Fresh grocery store opens doors in California
Amazon has opened its first ever Amazon Fresh grocery store, in Woodland Hills, California, including the Amazon Dash Cart, which enables customers to skip the checkout line, and new Alexa features to help people manage their shopping lists and better navigate the aisles.
5. Walmart enters race to buy TikTok
Walmart is teaming up with Microsoft in a bid to buy popular short-form video application TikTok.
China’s TikTok is nearing an agreement to sell its US, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand operations in a deal that’s likely to be in the $20 billion to $30 billion range. Walmart joins several others interested in the tech company, including Oracle.
